NATO should view Beijing as a security threat, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters, citing China-Russia cooperation and Beijing's statements against NATO expansion as evidence.

The sum of all this just reinforces the importance for NATO allies to stick together and understand that China is part of the security challenges NATO must face today and in the future, Stoltenberg said.

He noted that China's coercive behavior in the South China Sea and toward its neighbors and the way they violate basic human rights.